Parramatta Eels make it three on the trot with late flourish

The undermanned Raiders repelled wave after wave of Eels attack in the second half to nearly pull off a boilover in Darwin on Saturday night.

It took yet another piece of brilliance from the hottest player in the NRL, Jarryd Hayne, to deny a brave Raiders who showed desperation sorely lacking in a shambolic 54-18 home loss to New Zealand last week.

Canberra fans must be wondering where the resolve their team showed has been all season.

Their effort against the Warriors was insipid. They should be given due credit for patching up their defensive deficiencies in the space of six days against one of the league's best attacking teams.

Everything was seemingly against the Raiders. The Green Machine was without the experience of David Shillington, Shaun Fensom and Terry Campese through injury, were down on confidence after the Warriors hammering and were out of their comfort zone in the Top End heat.

But they gave a finals aspirant with much more to play for a huge scare, leading 10-0 early through tries to Bill Tupou and Jarrod Croker.

Reassuringly, they rolled up their sleeves and dug deep as they attempt to avoid a first wooden spoon since 1982.

Twice in the second half the Raiders saved what seemed certain tries by holding Parramatta up over the line. Five-eighth Anthony Milford's individual show of strength to thwart Eels halfback Chris Sandow with 15 minutes looked to be vital.

Just moment later Eels skipper Tim Mannah was denied the potential match winner when the video referee ruled the prop had knocked on stripping a ball from Croker before crashing over.

Parramatta missed yet another chance to secure victory when Hayne knocked on over the try line after taking a high kick.

Hayne eventually got it right with his match-winning injection to secure his side's third straight win.

Another positive for Canberra was the strong showing by fullback Jordan Rapana, playing his first game for the club after a five-game cameo with Gold Coast in 2008.

The 23-year-old embarked on a two-year Mormon mission and dabbled in rugby union, but justified his chance with some strong runs in a heavily involved display.

Rapana was also denied a try which would have given the Raiders a 16-0 lead through obstruction.

It kickstarted the Eels into action, Hayne finishing off a well executed left-edge raid to bridge Canberra's advantage to 10-6 at half-time.

Fifteen minutes in the second half the Eels were denied a chance to take their first lead when the video referees waved off a possible try to Bureta Faraimo for a double movement.

Canberra's admirable resistance eventually broke, but it took the man judged the world's best player by his peers in a magazine poll this week to do it.

Hayne finished with two tries, 235 metres, seven tackle breaks, two line breaks and a line break assist to show why he's a hot Dally M medal favourite.